The Dickinson press., 1887-08-06
Settlement in Western Dakota.

SS"i' N'"HNu Wy dil eNttlllulllilN
season, the place shows Il MOTTO
.hlc growth. Many dwellings are be-
ng erected, Il handsome court house,
Sl5,oUo, has been built, and
80 good is the credit of the county of
stark that the bonds issued to pay
'or the building We're sold ut Il figure
above par. The beautiful
country surrounding Dickim-
SON is attracting IL steady influx of
settlers. and the acreage of land in
crops this year is nearly double that
Of last year. These West Missouri
prairies are quite different in their
from those east of the
Big Muddy. There is very little
ground. the land swelling up ill.,
to ridges. the crests of which are
marked by high, t%lat-toppcd buttcs.
and sinking into long, sheltered vail
lcys. This makes a region with strik-
ing landscape features and gives an
Individuality to every township, amd
indeed, to every section; which is
lacking in level prairie countries.
The streams run in narrow valleys.
horlered here and there hy prccipi-
tous bluffs with o%utcroppings of lig-
mite coal and sandstone. The whole
face of the country, save on the gray
ely, bouldcr-strewn ridges, is covered
with IL luXuriant growth of grass.
The soil is Il deep brown mold. easily
titled and retaining moisture well.
Wheat. oats. barley, alfalfa. potatoes
and Indian corn are the common
crops. Less than onc-thlrd of Stark
county has been surveyed. and of the
surveyed land probably one-llalf is
still open to homestead and prc.emp-
tion settlement. Railroad lands are
held ut from two dollars and a half
to six dollars per acre. according to
nearlless To the road and it's stations.
The winters are less severe than i'm
Minnesota, and the spring opens
about Il week earlier. The snowfall
is not heavy and i'm the western and
northern parts of the county, where
the surface is much broken 10y Bad
land formations, stock range out I'LL
winter. Around Dickinson the co,ln-
try is essentially IL farming region
and the settlers make some provision
for winter feed for their stock. The
town derives Il good deal of trade.
however, from the ncighboring
ranges, and is IN of the principal
cattlc-shipping points OH the North.
ern Pacific line. Five years e it
consisted of IL station, an eating
house and the farm of Mr. Dickinson.
Now it has about 500 residents, three
churches, three hotels, IL score of
and shops, and II large, hand
somely-printed and carefully edited
weekly newspaper. The farms are
scattered for eight miles north of the
railroad track and about the same
distance south, and are for the most
part on the government sections,
most of the railroad land being still
lnsold. n thousand families could
find homes ut once in this county of
1t is us fine a country us any
that can be found in the %well-settled
portions of Kansas or Nebraska. and
the pressure of population upon
i'll the East it cannot fail to fill
up before long.
In Dickinson there are good and
immediate opportunities for a flour
mill, a furniture store, Il harness
maker and Il merchant tailor. Other
branches of business are well filled
ut present, but the development of
the tributary country will soon make
new openings. Lumber is worth
twenty-five dollars per thousand, and
coal mined i'll the neigllboring coun-
try costs two dollars and two and a
quarter per ton delivered. Wheat
will command about eighty cents this
year. Mich cows sell at from thirty.
five to fifty dollars. y good team of
farm horses can be bought at from
two hundred to two hundred and fifty
dollars. Farm wagons sell at from
seyenty-liye to eighty dollars. The
cost OF living is not noticably higher
than i'll Minnesota.
Much interest is felt in Dickinson
in the New England colony, which is
making u settlement tins summer i'm
llettinger county, Oh the Cannon
Ball river, about twenty-four miles
south of the town. These people
have gone into an absolutely new re-
gion with the view Of making Il cen-
trail town and filling up the surround
ing country with farmers. Most of
them are from Vermont. The colo
ny is managed by practical men with
capital and a llourishing community
will speedily spring up. Twenty
dwellings are nov being erected.
The ~colonists are confident that i'm a
year OF two their settlement will be
of sufficient Importance and promise
to induce the construction of u
branch railroad, diverging from the
Northern Pacific main line at Dickin-
son. They propose to call their town
New England City. The country be.
tween the Heart river, ON which
Dickinson stands, and the Cannon
Ball, where the new colony is located
is all excellent land for farming set.
Observation-Disclosures Magazine.
Texas Cattle and Montana Calves.
HN1,o Dro,,o.s T,,1